


not all heroes wear capes (some wear saddles)

by at a galloping trot (peachespeach)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Happy Ending, Hero Comet, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-12 13:45:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10492173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachespeach/pseuds/at%20a%20galloping%20trot
Summary: Kara Danvers has started to sleep with the bedroom window wide open.Alex, eventually, finds out why.





	1. Chapter 1

Kara Danvers has started to sleep with the bedroom window wide open.

Kara tells Eliza and Alex that she wants to look at the stars from her bed at night.

Eliza remembers Kara doing this in their home in Midvale, and although she’s pretty sure no stars can be seen at night in National City, she lets it pass.

Alex has stayed over and slept in Kara’s bed plenty of times. Snuggled next to her when the night is cold (Kryptonians pump out a lot of heat when they are dreaming), dangling her long arms and legs over the edge of the bed when the night is warm. Alex has lived in National City long enough to know no stars are visible in the sky at night. Not from Kara’s apartment windows, not from her own apartment, not even out in the suburbs.

She too lets it pass.

Eliza and Alex want Kara to be happy, and if she’s decided she wants to sleep with the bedroom window wide open, and that makes her happy, well, that’s just fine by them.

//

It’s Thursday. Sister night.

Alex gets off sooner than she’d expected from work, and Maggie is working late, so instead of going back to her apartment she heads straight round to Kara’s to start sister night a little earlier. She figures if Kara isn’t home she could use a soak in Kara’s big tub, maybe a nap. Maggie has been working odd shifts and although she could go back and sleep at her own place when she’s finished up at the Precinct, they’ve kind of settled into a rhythm where Maggie stays over at Alex’s most nights. But with that, and the _other_ (Alex bites her lip when she thinks about the other), she’s not been getting as much sleep as she really needs.

She’s dawdling her way down the corridor, nearly outside Kara’s apartment, texting Maggie with her left hand and searching in her pockets for the key with her right when Kara’s door flies open and two delivery guys walk out, shaking their heads and muttering something Alex can’t catch under their breath. Another two steps and she’s at the open doorway, sliding her phone back into her jeans.

‘Alex!’

Kara pulls her into a tight hug and starts bouncing up and down. Over Kara’s jiggling shoulder Alex can see a pile of cardboard boxes and - a - what _is_ that thing? It looks like a giant piece of sheet ice wrapped in plastic.

‘You’re early,’ says Kara, stepping back and letting Alex steady herself. ‘Look! I got my new bed delivered.’

Alex frowns and looks back down the corridor. ‘Those guys?…A new bed? What...?’

‘Yeah, they brought it up.  The mattress wouldn't even fit in the elevator! They reckoned it would take them a couple of hours to build it so I told them not to bother. Said I’d got my sister coming over and we’d make a night of it.’

This time Alex raises her eyebrows, tries to plaster a smile on her face. It’s more of a grimace, but Kara doesn’t seem to notice. Kara is busy turning out a toolbox onto the floor, holding up different screwdrivers and she looks _ecstatic_.

Alex sighs. She’s not great with home assembly and tends to over-think the instructions. Even basic do-it-herself can get out of hand. She’d spent an hour on Sunday afternoon trying to work out the best place in her apartment to put a painting, all thumb tacks and string and angles and equations on bits of paper. In the end Maggie had taken the hammer off the floor, squinted around, knocked a nail in the wall by the kitchen island and hung the painting on it.

Alex had tried hard not to show too much how impressed she’d been. But, goddammit, Maggie had found the perfect spot in the room and she’d barely had to look up from the _Sunday Tribune_ color supplement to do it.

Alex can’t believe sometimes that she’s lucky enough to be dating a hot badass lesbian detective who loves guns as much as she does. But dating a hot badass lesbian detective who can also hang paintings by _eye_ is something else.

‘Us cops rely on our instincts,’ Maggie had said to her with a smirk, standing back to look at her handiwork. ‘Also, Alex, if I’d rolled my eyes one more time at you waving around that spirit level and being a hot mess they were going to fall out of my head. It was do-or-die.’

Alex watches Kara line up the screwdrivers and remembers how Maggie had applied a similar sort of instinctive approach to a different, uh, _requirement_ to find a perfect spot later that same day and blows out her pink tinged cheeks.

‘You got any beer, Kara?’

‘Sure. I’ve got plenty.’ Kara looks up from her toolbox. ‘Hey Alex, you feeling okay? You look overworked already and we’ve not even got started.’

‘Just the climb up the stairs, Kara, that’s all.’ She gets a beer, lingers with the fridge door open to try and cool her face, then turns round, ready to face the onslaught.

Kara is holding a single screwdriver up and laughing at the expression on her face.

‘Just kidding about the bed. The bit about you helping, and us making a night of it - well that,’ Kara winks, ‘was so the guys wouldn’t think anything was odd. It will take me literally a minute.’

Alex almost sobs into her beer.

‘Alex, go and run yourself a bath. By the time you’re out it’ll all be done. I’ll get food on the way back from dropping all this cardboard at the recycling depot.’

‘You’re the best sister, ever,’ says Alex. ‘I love you.’

‘Best for both of us, I think,’ says Kara, putting a hand on her hip and cocking an eyebrow. ‘I heard what happened on Sunday.’

‘Maggie told you?’

Alex winces.

‘Well,’ says Kara, with a grin, ‘not exactly. I kind of got it third hand, to be honest, at work. I think most of the DEO knows by now.’

Alex swallows. ‘The DEO...?’

Another gleeful grin. ‘I thought the bit when you set up the thing with the lasers and mirrors and the anti-gravity generator was genius, by the way. I don’t know why more people don’t hang pictures using that method.’

Alex buries her face in her hand and slumps off to the bathroom. Just as she’s closing the door she hears Kara yell:

‘Nerd!’

//

The soak is just what she needs. She puts on her pyjamas, gives her hair a final run through with her fingers and picks up the empty beer bottle. She’s ready for whatever Kara has picked up from the food trucks, a couple more drinks, maybe some trashy TV, a catch up with her sister. They’ve not seen so much of each other outside work the past few weeks and she’s missed her.

Alex rounds into the bedroom area of the apartment and stops stock still.

‘Holy shit, Kara!’

‘Like it?’ Kara looks like she is going to explode with happiness.

‘It’s...God...It’s huge. It must be ten feet wide.’

Kara nods, proudly. ‘Ten and a half feet.’

Alex shakes her head. ‘I mean, our bed…’ and at this she coughs and doesn’t quite meet Kara’s eye, ‘the bed in my apartment, is big, but this…’

‘The biggest I could find.’ Another broad smile.

‘Uh- I know Streaky likes to stretch out,’ says Alex, looking over to the couch where the cat is studiously ignoring both of them _and_ the bed, ‘but even he’s going to find it hard to take up all the space. You could fit a baby elephant on there and still have room for the pair of you.’

Alex looks up at Kara as she makes her quip and- there’s just a flicker of something in Kara’s eyes. But- whatever it is it fades as quickly as it arrives. Alex files it away anyway. Partly DEO training, partly her instinct to protect her sister. She’ll think about it later. Right now, she’s hungry.

//

‘The, uh, throw is unusual, with the horseshoes, and everything,’ says Alex, taking a sip from her beer. She’s nearly at the bottom of her second bottle and it’s making her sleepy. ‘I like it though. Where’d you get it?’

Kara puts down her fourth helping of potstickers. ‘Same place I got the sheets made up. I liked the pattern.’

Alex nods. ‘Maybe it’ll bring you luck, whilst you sleep. Maggie has a little silver horseshoe charm she’s had since she was a kid. She _swears_ it does.’

Kara picks the potstickers back up again. ‘I saw it and it seemed perfect.’ She looks over to the bed and, in a quieter voice, which Alex doesn’t miss: ‘I hope it does.’


	2. Chapter 2

A week goes by, quickly, and it’s sister night again. Alex has left Maggie at the Precinct, chasing down a lead. She’s offered to stay and help but Maggie has sent her off to Kara’s with a kiss, delivered to her right in the middle of the bullpen, and told her to enjoy herself and she’ll see her later: _in bed, at home_. Alex doesn’t know whether the tingling she’s feeling is connected with the former (Maggie had grabbed Alex’s jacket lapels and pulled her close to kiss her and Alex had liked that a _lot_ ), or the latter. They’ve both been referring to her apartment as home recently and neither one correcting it. 

When Alex hears Maggie say the word _home_ , it makes her fall a little harder.

//

It’s closer to seven than six by the time Alex gets to Kara’s apartment building. 

Kara has texted her four times to check where she is and offered to pick her up - like, literally, pick her up - on the way back from the food trucks. Alex thinks maybe she’ll get Kara to drop her off at her apartment at the end of the night. She figures Maggie will probably need to let off a bit of steam when she gets back from work and a jolt of adrenaline from the flight might just help Alex to help Maggie with that. 

She makes a mental note to remind her sister before they set off that she’s not to invite herself in when they get back to her apartment. And to not linger around the apartment building with her supersenses on.

//

Kara’s putting slices of pizza onto paper plates when she lets herself through the door.

‘Are you a sight for sore eyes, Kara Danvers,’ says Alex, and Kara turns with a smile.

‘Alex! Come and eat. I got your favourite. Well, I got your favourite, and my favourite, and another one of my favourites. But I thought we’d start with _our_ favourite - the ham and pineapple one first.’

Alex throws her jacket on the edge of the table. ‘Seriously, we’ve not stopped all day. All I’ve had is Precinct coffee and stale donuts.’

Kara taps the stool next to her. ‘Come and eat.’ She picks up a slice of pizza and starts to chew.

‘I’ll never talk down the DEO canteen again.’ Alex flicks the top off a bottle of beer and takes a glug. ‘I’m so hungry I swear I could eat a horse.’ She reaches over and picks up the largest slice of pizza from the plate in front of Kara and sinks her teeth into it.

It’s only when Alex goes to bite a second mouthful that she notices Kara’s face. 

Kara looks horrified.

‘What? What?!’ says Alex.

Kara shakes her head. ‘Alex, no.’

‘Oh, I get it. It’s because I’ve taken the largest slice. Well, sis, you’ve got two other pizzas over there and all the slices I can’t eat of mine and they’ve all got your name on them.’ 

Alex loves sister night and loves teasing Kara. Particularly where food is concerned.

‘It’s not about the pizza,’ says Kara, looking more scandalised and offended, now, than horrified. ‘Rao, you, you...you wouldn’t really eat a horse, would you?’ 

Kara drops her voice when she says _horse_. To a whisper.

Alex frowns and shakes her head. ‘Nawww. Course I wouldn’t.’

‘You said you could.’ Kara puts her pizza slice down on the plate and Alex thinks her sister is going to burst into tears at any second. She wipes her fingers on a napkin and slings her arm around Kara’s shoulders. 

‘It’s just a turn of phrase. How about I change it to-’ Alex frowns, ‘I’m as hungry as a horse.’

‘Better,’ nods Kara, picking her pizza up again. ‘Although it’s still a strange thing to say. Like, humans don’t really want to eat grass, or hay, or oats, do they? And that’s what horses get hungry for.’

Alex feels like she’s fourteen again and Kara has just come to live in Midvale. She blows out her cheeks.

‘I like apples, though, Kara. So I’ve got something in common with horses. And, for the record, I absolutely don’t want to eat one. A horse, that is.’

Kara nods again and looks happier. 

Alex finishes her beer, quickly, and reaches for another.


	3. Chapter 3

Sister night rolls around again and Maggie gives Alex a lift to Kara’s apartment block in her squad car. 

Ostensibly, Maggie’s driving the car because she wants to return a bunch of files she’s been working on back to the office before the weekend. 

Scratch the surface a little and it turns out that Kara has a backlog of dry cleaning which needs to be picked up from the drive thru and Alex, still feeling on uncertain ground with her sister after the previous week’s I-could-eat-a-horse related exchange, has volunteered Maggie to do just that. The back seat is full of clean laundry and box files and Maggie is grumbling that she can’t see out of her rear view mirror.

‘You’d better make it up to me, Danvers.’

‘Oh, I have a few ideas of how I can do just that,’ says Alex, breezily.

‘So do I,’ says Maggie, checking out the mirrors on the car doors before overtaking a garbage truck and throwing a glare to the passenger seat.

Alex shifts a little in her seat. God, Maggie can pull off sultry _and_ menacing with aplomb.

She wishes, not for the first time on the ride over, that she was heading to the Precinct with Maggie and making good use of the dark corners in the archive rooms.

//

Kara is waiting at the curb when Maggie draws up in the car. She balances the mound of dry cleaning on one arm and picks up Alex’s holdall with the other.

‘Thanks Maggie, so much.’

‘No problem,’ says Maggie, tilting her head out of the window to kiss Alex. ‘See you at ten.’

‘Not a minute after,’ says Alex, and she waves and heads off up the stairs after her sister.

In contrast to the week before, Kara is all smiles. Alex thinks she’s happier than she’s seen her in weeks.

‘You’re glowing,’ she says, between the third and fourth floor. Kara is taking the stairs two at a time and Alex returns her wide grin.

‘Sometimes really nice things just happen and catch you unawares,’ says Kara. 

Alex opens the door of the apartment to let them in, wondering what’s happened to make Kara so cheerful. She’s sure Kara will tell her over dinner. It must be work, she thinks. Snapper has been pushing her hard and she’s been finding it tough but it’s been good for her. 

‘I stopped by that French place you and Maggie like,’ says Kara. ‘Got beef bourguignon and a _lot_ of nice looking creamed potato and bread. I couldn’t decide so I got both.’

The stew is on the stove and it smells amazing. 

‘Oh and I got wine to have with the meal. I picked it. My treat.’

Alex looks at the label. ‘Pinot Noir. Very nice. You know what, Kara, I think a little bit of Cat Grant has rubbed off on you.’

‘Ooh,’ says Kara, her smile growing wider. ‘I got a postcard from Miss Grant today. She’s in Italy. She sounds like she’s having a wonderful time. Told me she’d been reading my articles and to stick at it.’

Alex is really pleased. So _that’s_ why Kara is so happy. Alex knows her sister really misses Cat. Hell, even Alex misses Cat. 

‘Let’s get this wine open,’ she says, reaching up to get two glasses from the shelving.

‘One minute,’ says Kara. ‘Just let me go and superspeed hang my clothes in the closet. I’ll be distracted about them creasing otherwise.’ She picks up the mountain of dry cleaning and disappears in a blur.

Alex follows her in with her holdall. She doesn’t sleep over at Kara’s as much as she used to, but still likes to keep a drawer full of clothes at her sisters. She also keeps a good bottle of scotch tucked under her spare DEO uniform, for _emergencies_. 

Kara has finished opening and closing the closet doors and hanging up the dry cleaning before Alex has even pulled out her regular drawer in the bureau nearest to Kara’s bed. 

‘I’ll go serve up,’ says Kara, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder.

‘Be there in ten seconds,’ says Alex, as she folds up an orange t-shirt of hers which Maggie seems to have adopted. She holds it to her face for a second, filled with a pang of _missing_ , or _want_ or... _lust_. Alex shakes her head. She’s twenty eight and only just understanding what her teenage friends had been feeling all those years ago. 

‘Get a grip, Danvers,’ she says to herself, then smiles and thanks the Universe again for bringing Maggie Sawyer into her life. 

She still has to pack away some of the clothes Maggie has pressed into the bag; a couple of pairs of sweatpants and a tank top, a button down still in the wrapper which she doesn’t want to get mixed up with Kara’s, some underwear, but her drawer is full. Alex pulls out the next one up, half listening to Kara sing in the kitchen, and the clink of plates against the counter top and then stops with a jolt and a blink of her eyes. 

This wasn’t what she expected to see. 

There’s some new brushes in there which don’t look like the normal - special - ones Kara uses to comb her hair - these are flatter and bigger and with a thick elasticated band across the back. She picks up one and turns it over but before she can examine it in detail her eyes are dragged over to the other side of the drawer. She’s no speed counter but to her DEO trained eyes there’s _at least_ three dozen small cardboard boxes neatly lined up against each other. Her first thought is that it’s boxes of small arms ammunition, which makes her gawp. Why would Supergirl need to hoard bullets when she was impervious to everything apart from Kryptonite? And Supergirl had a no-kill policy... 

Alex tilts her head to one side to read the wording on the sides. 

_Rough Cut Sugar Cubes 1lb_

‘Alex!’

Alex stands up quickly and rubs her eyes. She really should have just shut that drawer straight back over as soon as she saw it wasn’t empty.

She feels terrible for looking.

She screws up her face really tight when she thinks about Kara accidentally and innocently looking in one particular drawer in her bedside table. Maggie has, uh, repurposed it. It used to hold old calculators and notebooks. No longer. Maggie has christened it, with a cackle, the Drawer of Sin.

That’s not what she’s stumbled on here, but all the same, her sister has got 36 pounds worth of sugar in her bureau. And some weird ass big brushes. 

That’s _bizarre_.

‘Alex!’ Kara is wailing now and Alex knows it’s because she’s got the food in front of her and she won’t start until Alex is there, but Alex needs a minute to gather her thoughts together.

‘Just need to wash my hands,’ shouts Alex, shoving the holdall into the bottom of Kara’s closet, and slips into the bathroom. She pulls her phone out, wondering whether to text Maggie, stares at it, and puts it away. She just needs to _think_ , for a few seconds.

More or less, Alex Danvers knows more about her sister’s alien physiology than pretty much anyone else on the planet. Her mom might come a close second, then (and she closes her eyes at this, feeling the usual wave of sadness), her dad. Alex knows that her sister eats a lot, but she’s never known her just eat pure sugar, not even in 12th grade. Alex calculates the amount of energy in the boxes. Enough to give Kara a pep up, that’s for sure.

A deep breath and back out, past Streaky who’s commandeered the lower right of the gigantic bed, now featuring a different throw - one with stirrups on it this time. 

Alex shakes her head again. There’s something weird going on here, but she can’t quite put her finger on it.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex puts the contents of the bureau drawer firmly to the back of her mind and they settle into their familiar sister night groove. Kara has hit the jackpot with the take-out she’s picked up from the restaurant near Alex’s apartment, and they’re both enjoying the food, and the wine. 

Alex relaxes, but only a little.

Over dinner Kara reads out Cat’s postcard three times, and talks about CATCO, and Snapper and how blue the sky was when she went out for a spin around earlier and how pretty the trees looked, and the water and how glad she is to be alive. 

Kara doesn’t stop talking, not even _once_ while they’re eating, and when they finally finish up at the table she whisks Alex off to the couch with a topped up glass of wine so she can superspeed clean the kitchen.

Alex sips her wine and wonders if Kara crumbled sugar lumps on her dinner when she wasn’t looking because the girl is _sure_ on some sort of high at the moment. 

She’s still trying to logic it out when Kara flops next to her with a pint of ice cream and two spoons.

‘Not had a proper cuddle from you for weeks,’ says Kara, lifting up Alex’s arm and draping it around her shoulder. ‘I’ve missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you too,’ says Alex, fondly. ‘But, I’m right here, now, Kara,’ she says, kissing the top of Kara’s head and resting her cheek against it. ‘Right here.’

‘Remember when you went away to University and we’d only talk on Wednesday and Sunday nights?’ says Kara. ‘I used to look forward so much to talking to you, telling you about my days.’

Alex beams. _Sister Talk_ , they used to call it. ‘I loved those times.’

‘And I used to think of three things to ask you, because otherwise you’d never tell me anything about what you’d been up to.’

Alex remembers. She used to wonder, sometimes, if Eliza had a hand in constructing some of the more probing _Sister Talk_ questions.

‘I think that’s probably the start of your journalistic career, right there,’ says Alex, tilting her head and flashing Kara a grin. ‘You and your three burning questions.’

Kara laughs and mutters something about writing Miss Grant and Alex picks up a spoon from Kara’s lap. As she starts to prod at the ice cream her cell pings and she reaches back into her pocket to retrieve it. It’s a message from Maggie: a single pink heart.

‘Don’t tell Maggie you saw that,’ says Alex. 

‘You two,’ says Kara, rolling her eyes.

‘It means she’s leaving the Precinct, that’s all,’ protests Alex, but it’s weak to her ears, let alone her sisters.

‘I’d ask you how it’s going, but I think it’s going pretty well, right?’

Alex rolls a spoonful of ice cream around her mouth and nods. There’s a time to be flippant and funny with Kara but tonight doesn’t feel like one of those nights. 

‘I know it must be going well, Alex, because you can’t stop smiling.’ 

Alex finishes her mouthful of ice cream and reaches for her wine glass again, because she is not used to talking about her _love_ life, and she wants to snatch another couple of seconds to figure out where to start. 

‘So, Kara,’ she says, slowly, ‘things _are_ pretty amazing, at the moment, in my life.’ She pauses, weighing up her words. ‘Obviously Maggie is _totally_ amazing and adorable and-’ Alex wants to say _hot_ , but can’t say that to her sister, so settles, reluctantly, for ‘- beautiful.’ 

She stops again.

‘I have to pinch myself, sometimes. I can’t- I can’t believe that this- _this_ is happening, after being single for all these years and kind of thinking it was- well- just not my _thing_.’ 

Alex gives a contented sigh and pulls Kara a little closer.

‘Not that I wasn’t happy, back then,’ says Alex, ‘you understand- I was,’ and Kara presses into her, stays silent. ‘It’s just that, when Maggie came into my life, I found the key to a part of myself I didn’t even know was locked away. And that has been the _hugest_ deal.’

‘She’s been so good for you,’ says Kara, and Alex chews on her lip, and nods.

‘She makes me feel incredible,’ says Alex, softly. ‘Not just, like _that_ ,’ says Alex, the pink hitting her cheeks. ‘But, the way she supports me, listens to me, the talking we do. She’s always doing little things without me asking, without her even thinking I notice, even though I always notice. And when she looks at me, it’s like she makes me light up inside.’

Kara reaches for her hand and gives it a squeeze, then picks up her spoon again.

‘Some days,’ Alex chuckles, because if she doesn’t chuckle, she thinks she might have to stop speaking for a second, ‘some days, I think I feel the closest I’ve ever felt to how you must feel, because some days I feel invincible.’

This is the first time she’s ever really vocalised the way Maggie makes her feel and, combined with the wine, talking like this is making her feel a little lightheaded and emotional.

‘Oh Alex…’

Kara pushes herself away from Alex so she can look at her properly. Kara’s face is soft and open and Alex swears there’s tears in her eyes.

‘My beautiful big, _happy_ , sister,’ says Kara, reaching over to touch her cheek. 

Alex shrugs, all smiles and sighs.

‘It’s not all plain sailing,’ she says, quirking up her brow.

‘ _Really?_ ’

Alex shakes her head. ‘Maggie has terrible taste in music and she can’t sing a note. Not like you.’

Kara laughs. ‘Or you,’ she says.

‘Okay, or me. But, Kara, I don’t care. She squeaks out those cheesy songs and I hear the words and I think each and every one of them could be written about us.’ Alex screws up her face and reaches for her wine, ‘and now DEO Agent Danvers has officially said too much.’

‘Awww,’ says Kara, leaning back into her shoulder. ‘Alex. It’s adorable. You’re so good for each other, you know. And there’s nothing quite like _feeling_ those _feelings_ when you’re really falling in love with someone.’

Alex nearly chokes on her wine. ‘Steady on, Kara. Don’t get ahead of yourself.’

‘Alex, you’re not fooling anyone. You just say the word, day or night, and I’ll whisk the pair of you off to Vegas to say I _doooooo_.’

Alex rolls her eyes and swills the wine around in her glass. Of course, she knows she’s a goner. Has been since before she even realised what was happening to her. Alex counts her blessings right there and then - she has a wonderful sister and an amazing girlfriend. She has another sip of wine and resolves to take Maggie out for dinner on Saturday, tell her a little more how she feels about her. Nothing too dramatic: Alex doesn’t want to scare her off, but she knows she wants Maggie to know just how much she cares about her.

She rests her cheek on Kara’s head again. Thinks - guiltily - about stumbling onto the contents of the bureau drawer. There must be a rational explanation for it, like Kara just stocking up, or batch cooking. Another memory sleets into her head: she’d popped around unannounced a couple of weeks ago just as Kara was carrying two large sacks of carrots up the stairs. Kara had muttered something vague and started babbling on about CATCO and Alex hadn’t thought of it again.

‘Come over to ours for sister’s night next week,’ she says into Kara’s hair, pushing the thoughts of the bureau drawer and the carrots away. 

‘ _Ours_ ,’ says Kara, giggling.

‘Ours,’ says Alex, firmly. ‘ _Chez nous_.’ 

Maggie has started saying that, instead of _chez Danvers_. 

Hearing it makes Alex twist her mouth into a little smile, every time.

‘And I’d better make a move. Don’t want to keep Maggie waiting. Not after the day she’s had.’

‘I set aside a portion for her,’ says Kara, and Alex leans over to press another kiss into Kara’s hair as a thank you before getting up from the couch. Her fingers catch on something as she smooths down Kara’s curls. Alex pulls, instinctively, and finds herself looking at- a piece of straw. It’s the same colour as Kara’s hair but it’s absolutely straw, not hair.

‘Kara,’ says Alex.

‘Mmmm.’

‘Did you help anyone out today? Like, a farmer?’

‘Why do you ask,’ says Kara, turning her head, her eyes wide at the piece of straw Alex is holding between her index finger and thumb. ‘Oh, uhm…’

Alex is a badass DEO agent and a big sister and it takes precisely _zero_ percent of her intensive training to notice the intense red blush which is currently attacking the top half of her sister’s body.

‘It’s…’ says Kara.

Alex sniffs the remaining wine in her glass and then leans over to sniff Kara’s hair.

‘Kara, why does your hair smell of farmyards?’

Kara shakes her head.

‘I thought it was the wine, you know, pinot smelling like an old barn and all that. But now, I realise,’ Alex pauses, totally confused. ‘It’s you…’

‘I can explain,’ stutters Kara.

‘And I can’t believe I am saying this but- I really have to go,’ says Alex, knocking back the rest of the wine and starting to get up.

Kara gets up with her and walks to the door.

‘Alex I’ve been helping out at this place where there are horses and I was there today and that’s where it’s from.’ 

Kara rushes through the words and all of Alex’s DEO and sister senses are on high alert. 

She knows her sister is keeping something back but she really has to get down to meet Maggie.

‘See you tomorrow at the DEO,’ says Alex, picking up her jacket and leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. ‘We need to talk.’


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> Updated with the longer version of Chapter 5.

‘Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?’ says Maggie, a look of concern on her face. ‘Kara’s been acting,’ she tilts her head to one side, weighing up her words ‘a bit up and down, in my opinion, the past couple of weeks.’

Alex nods, slowly. Maggie has got a point. And Kara had avoided her all day yesterday and cancelled a drink after work at the last moment.

‘Thank you, but...I’ll go alone. This time. But thanks.’

‘I guess she’ll open up more to you than me. But I’m here, for you, and for her, when and if either of you need me.’

Alex puts on her jacket and picks up the keys to her bike. At this point she’s not sure if it’s possible for her to have any more feelings towards Maggie without her heart beating itself out of her chest and into Maggie’s lap.

‘You’re the best, Maggie. Just- don’t drown in the paperwork before I get back. The reservation’s at 8 o’clock and I thought we’d take our time getting ready.’ Alex says it as lightly as she can, hoping Maggie doesn’t get too immersed in her case files.

‘Don’t worry, Danvers,’ says Maggie, picking up the rest of the breakfast dishes and standing on tiptoe as she passes to kiss her full on the mouth.  ‘After this morning I’ll just be idling away a few hours, waiting for you to come and twist my throttle again.’

Alex swallows and wonders if she’ll ever be able to get enough of this woman.

//

The text Kara had sent last night had been short.

‘Will you come over in the morning? There’s someone I’d like you to meet, very much. Love you K x’

//

Alex has met a handful of Kara’s suitors over the years.  While Alex remembers forcing herself to be interested in boys when they were teenagers, and then at college, in order to fit in, Kara just seemed to take the attention she received in her stride.  And sometimes she’d date, sometimes she wouldn’t.      

But Alex can’t remember being asked to meet someone the _day_ after first getting wind of her sister’s feelings.  This just seems really - _serious._  She talks to Maggie about it as they’re making breakfast, about her sister seemingly being so sure, so soon.  Maggie waits until her bagel has finished toasting the second time and takes Alex’s hands in her own and her eyes twinkle so much that Alex really has to concentrate on what she’s saying, instead of just leaning in and kissing her.

Maggie asks, with a smile, how long Alex _thinks_ it should take for someone to realise they really like another person.  

Alex rolls her head from side to side, not wanting to say what’s on the tip of her tongue, worrying, but Maggie waits and watches then says it for her:

‘How about it takes as long as it takes to say something like, I don’t know, _your jurisdiction ends where I say it does?_  Because I’d say that’s about as long as it took me.’

Alex expects Maggie to smirk after she delivers the line she’s teased her about so often.  But Maggie doesn’t.  She carries on holding Alex’s hands and looking into her eyes and Alex feels the universe shift and sway a little bit around her, and something between them changes and melds, as though the natural order of things has settled a little more firmly in place.  

She opens her mouth and finds herself speaking, her voice low.  

‘Using the example you used, I’d say it could take me, I guess, about that long, yes, too.’

Maggie bites her lip with her bottom teeth and starts to back Alex towards the bed.

‘Care to remind this dumb local cop exactly how this jurisdiction thing works, Danvers?’

The side of the bed hits Alex on the back of her calves and she falls back, Maggie tumbling on top of her.

Alex waits a beat, locks eyes on her target and flips Maggie right over, so their positions are reversed.

‘That’s _Alex_ Danvers, _Secret Service_ , to _you-_   _Detective_.’

//

When they are eventually still, and peaceful, Maggie brushes the hair away from Alex’s damp brow and places kisses to her temple and whispers a hundred beautiful things in her ear.

Alex lies in Maggie's tender and protective arms and thinks she couldn't be more happy.

Until:  

Alex's heart starts to beat differently.  

She _feels_ it change.  

Alex knows, right then, that she will remember this moment for the rest of her life.  

Because this is the moment that Alex Danvers - in this parcel of time they've carved away from the noise and haste of their regular lives - finally listens to herself.  And what she hears is that she is completely and hopelessly - _blissfully_ \- head over heels in love with Maggie Sawyer.

//

Alex isn’t usually nervous, but now, getting off her bike outside her sister’s apartment, she’s got a sheen of perspiration on her hands. It’s marking the finish on her motorbike helmet with random shaped prints, and her heart is beating a little faster than usual.

Kara is waiting for her, leaning on the wall by the intercomm machine.

‘I thought I’d better explain myself,’ says Kara, shifting her weight from leg to leg. ‘Before we got upstairs. After Thursday night. I didn’t want you getting worried about me.’

Alex nods. ‘Sure.’ She holds her helmet in one hand, pushes the keys to the bike into her side pocket.

Kara calls the elevator and they step inside.

‘I have this friend, you see,’ says Kara, pressing the button for her floor.

‘At the horse place?’ says Alex. Alex really doesn’t want to make this difficult for her.

‘Yeah. Bill, Bill Starr. And, uh, we’ve been friends for a while, and then things changed, and we become closer, and that was really cool,’ Kara smiles at this, ‘and then things changed again, only a couple of weeks ago.’ She looks up. ‘Like, one day, we just looked at each other, and both of us saw more than we had the day before. Does that make sense, Alex?’

Alex thinks about Maggie, and how they’d found their way to each other.

‘Course it does, Kara.’

‘It’s been so new and shiny and our schedules have not really matched up so well so I’ve just been holding my breath and crossing my fingers with it all, and I wanted to tell you but-’

‘It’s okay, Kara,’ says Alex. ‘I understand. The switch from friends to, uh, more than friends is something I’m more than familiar with. And the bit about our schedules. Same with me and Maggie. It’s hard, especially at first.’

Kara throws her a look of relief mixed with mild panic.

‘You trust me, Alex, don’t you? Not to do anything stupid, or rash?’

‘Course I trust you. With my life, Kara.’

The elevator door opens and they step out.

‘Alex,’ says Kara, and Alex can see the nerves on her face. ‘This is probably going to seem a bit odd, but you are going to have to trust me on this.’

Alex scoffs. ‘Come on, Kara. I’m cool with it all.’

‘Okay,’ says Kara, ‘but just remember, there’s more to this than meets the eye. Because - Bill has superpowers too, you see.'

'Okaaaay,' says Alex, slowly. 'Like yours?'

'We're very similar,' says Kara. 'Except, sometimes, Bill isn't in human form. Sometimes - depending on whether they are comets passing through a particular part of the solar system he transforms into a horse with superpowers and because Bill isn't a brilliant name for a horse calls himself Comet.'

Alex stops to think. 'Can I just have a moment, to call Maggie?'

'Sure,' says Kara. 'I'll be inside.' She lets herself into the apartment and Alex presses speed dial.

Maggie picks up on the third ring.

‘Danvers! Hey, I found this really weird thing in the files to tell you about when you get home.’

Alex takes a deep breath and starts to whisper, hoping her sister isn’t listening.

‘Maggie. I really need your help here. I also have, uh, a really weird thing going on.’

‘You at Kara’s yet’

‘Just outside.’

‘Okaaaay. I’m here. Spill.’

There’s really no other way to say it.

‘Kara is- dating a guy called Bill with superpowers who sometimes turns into a super horse ’

Alex hears a chuckle down the line.

‘I’m being serious,’ says Alex. Suddenly everything is starting to fall into place - the sacks of carrots, the oversize brushes in the drawer, the sugar lumps.

‘You guys really _are_ fun,’ says Maggie.

‘Maggie, please,’ pleads Alex. ‘Help!’

‘Alex,’ says Maggie, steadily. ‘Listen to me. I’ve seen some crazy stuff in Science Division - heard a story the other day about someone getting turned into an Otter, for chrissakes - but your sister knows what she's doing. And if he's got superpowers, he's got superpowers. And if sometimes, he turns into a horse - well - I've seen worse.’

Kara pops her head back round the door. 'Everything okay?' she says.

'Fine,' says Alex.

‘I gotta go, Maggie,’ whispers Alex.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex pushes her cell back into her pocket, wipes her hands on her jeans and picks up her bike helmet.  

 

She hesitates, takes a deep breath, knocks gently at the door.

 

Kara is there a few seconds later, pulling it open, beaming out her broadest smile.

 

‘Come in’, she says and Alex follows, making sure not to tap the side table with the helmet as she passes and then-

 

Alex comes to an abrupt halt.  

 

There is a huge, white, _horse_ , in Kara’s apartment.

 

Alex blinks.

 

And the horse appears to be wearing four huge slippers on its four huge feet.

 

Kara’s reaches for Alex’s free hand and Alex hears her say: ‘So, Alex, I’d like you to meet Comet-’ and Alex is still wondering how Kara has managed to get a horse in the elevator, because horses can’t climb stairs, can they? ‘-and, Comet, this is my sister Alex.’

 

Comet dips his head and lowers himself down onto one knee.  

 

It’s a greeting, and Alex has to admit, a pretty charming one at that.

 

‘Nice to meet you, Comet,’ says Alex, remembering her manners.  Comet straightens back up, waggles his ears and then they droop a little.  His tail gives a little twitch.

 

Alex keeps a smile on her face and wonders which of them is feeling more nervous.

 

‘I’ve just made a pot of coffee, if you’d like some,’ says Kara, interrupting her train of thought.

 

‘Sure.  Coffee,’ says Alex.  ‘Coffee sounds good.  Let me give you a hand.’

 

She steps to the side in the kitchen, puts her helmet on the floor, starts to busy herself with the cups and spoons.

 

‘Can you bring over a couple of glasses too,’ says Kara, and Alex doesn’t look around, but she can hear her sister shuffling something about.  ‘I got juice.’

 

Alex reaches up for the glasses and spies a large bottle on the shelf next to the refrigerator.  

 

She reads the label.

 

_Hoof Oil_

 

A week ago she’d have been scratching her head if she’d spotted that in Kara’s apartment and be idly wondering if her sister was using it to treat her hair against fly-away frizz.  

 

But now?  

 

Alex raises her eyebrows at herself, thinks about what Maggie just said - _your sister knows what she’s doing_ \- and takes the tray with the coffee pot and cups and glasses over to the table by the couch.  

 

//

 

Streaky is taking up most of the couch as usual and Kara seems reluctant to tackle him so Alex squashes herself in between her sister and the armrest and the oversize cushions and twists her legs to fit around the bucket of apples on the floor.  Comet is over by the couch too, partially lying down, back legs curled up on the rug.  When Alex finally settles Comet moves his head onto Kara’s lap, and Kara scratches him under his chin.

 

The cat stretches and yawns and manages to take up just a little bit more space than before.

 

Alex fiddles nervously with the buttons on her leather jacket.

 

The silence lengthens.

 

‘Well, this is nice,’ says Alex, eventually.

 

Comet lets out a soft whinny.

 

‘Isn’t it,’ says Kara, happily.

 

‘So-er, Maggie is sorry she couldn’t come over.  She just said, when I called her, just now.’

 

‘Next time,’ says Kara and Alex nods.

 

‘I had forgotten to tell her I’d bought hot sauce yesterday and that it was in my work bag if she needed it.’

 

‘Right,’ says Kara.

 

‘That’s why I rang her.  When I was outside.’  

 

Alex coughs.  

 

‘To tell her about the hot sauce.’

 

Alex decides that being quiet is probably the wisest thing she could be doing right at this moment.

 

‘I’m so glad you’ve finally met,’ says Kara.  

 

‘Me too,’ says Alex, ever the supportive sister.

 

Another long moment passes and Alex is surprised by how relaxed she feels.  She blows on her coffee to cool it and takes a hesitant sip.  

 

‘You got any plans for today?  It’s nice out.’

 

‘Work for both of us this afternoon,’ says Kara.  ‘I need to catch up on my emails and Comet has to go in a minute.  He’s got a pretty full schedule today, with it being a Saturday.  You know how it is.’

 

‘Right.  Of course,’ says Alex, not really knowing, but agreeing anyway.

 

Comet gets to his feet and Kara reaches up and gives him a couple of pats on the neck and an apple.  

 

‘I’ll see you later,’ she says, with a grin.  ‘If I’m not here- there’s pony nuts or lasagne, whichever you like.’

 

Alex thinks she’ll save asking about that for later.

 

Comet nods his head towards Alex as he’s chewing his apple, gives them both a little nudge with his nose - Alex feels warm velvet brush against her knuckles - and then he’s off, two strides and flying out of the window by Kara’s bed.

 

This just gets better.  

 

He can _fly_.  

 

So _that’s_ why her sister started leaving the bedroom window wide open all the time.

 

‘He’s left his slippers on, again,’ says Kara, with a shake of her head, watching him go.  She turns back to Alex.  ‘I’ll have to remind him later to bring them back.’

 

Alex leans back into the couch and Kara swivels to face her, grabbing one of Alex’s hands, and bouncing her knees up and down.

 

‘I thought that went really well, didn’t you?’

 

Alex doesn’t know where to start, so reaches for her cup again.  She tries not to think of the emergency bottle of scotch in her drawer in the bureau.  That’s not going to help.

 

‘J’onn told me not to worry about you guys meeting, so I didn’t,’ says Kara.

 

‘J’onn?’  Alex practically splutters her coffee over the sofa.

 

‘Yeah- I mean, it’s always a bit nerve wracking, isn’t it.  Like when you brought Maggie over here for the first time just after Thanksgiving.  I thought you were going to pass out.’

 

Kara does have a point, Alex concedes.  She’d ended up having to breathe into a brown paper bag for five minutes.  But J’onn?

 

‘Does J’onn know, uh, Comet?’ says Alex.

 

‘Oh, yeah,’ says Kara.  ‘In fact, if it wasn’t for J’onn...’

 

‘Okayyy,’ says Alex, slowly, opening her eyes wider than she thinks they have ever opened.  ‘Hold up.  Let’s go right back to the beginning.  So, on the way up here you said you’d known- each other- for a while, and then-’

 

‘Aha,’ says Kara, gleefully.  ‘It’s so funny how it happened.’  She pulls a cushion over from the other side of the sofa and leans her arms on it.  

 

‘Remember me going to volunteer at that summer camp for kids from National City a few years ago?  Before I became Supergirl?’

 

‘The one near Mom’s?  What’s it called- _“_ _Hope Camp_ _”_?’

 

‘Yeah, that’s the one.  Well, they have stables there and horses and ponies for the kids to ride and look after and _that’s_ when I met Comet.’

 

‘As Kara?’ says Alex.  ‘Not Supergirl?’

 

Kara shakes her head.  ‘Not as Supergirl.  Always Kara.’

 

Alex tries to think how Kara got from that, to this.

 

Kara holds her cushion a little closer.

 

‘I couldn’t spend as much time there after I started at CATCO, but I’d always stop by, when I visited Eliza.  I couldn’t walk away from it.  That camp is _amazing_.  They work with kids who don’t go to school, kids with no real home or family, kids whose family have disowned them- orphans, refugees.  Kids who can’t be kids anymore because their world has ended and they’re having to pick themselves up because they have no one in their life who cares.’

 

Alex nods slowly; understanding.

 

Thinks about her sister’s world ending when she was just a teenager.  Thinks about vulnerability, and trust.  Thinks about strength.  Thinks about Maggie.     

 

Kara takes a sip of her juice.   

 

‘The animals, at the camp, are at the center of everything.  And they’re the ones who get the kids to open up.  So- I got to know, in time, all the horses and ponies and I became very fond of Comet.  I was his _biggest_ fan.’

 

Kara’s face brightens as she talks.  

 

‘Why was he your favourite, back then?’ says Alex.

 

‘So many things,’ says Kara.  ‘His nature- he's placid and patient and soothing to be around.  It made me marvel how an animal so big could be so gentle and caring.  He clearly loved spending time with the kids- I could see his heart was huge, and his soul was _beautiful_.’

 

Alex raises her eyebrows and nods her head.  ‘I can see why you think him pretty special.’

 

‘Comet is a joy to be around,’ says Kara, ‘but _all_ the horses and ponies there are special to me.  And to see the kids start to enjoy being kids again, finding their confidence- and all this from working with these kind, selfless, noble creatures - well, that helped me realise that some heroes wear saddles, not capes.’

 

‘Oh, _Kara_ ,’ breathes Alex.  She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, tries to control her trembling bottom lip.  ‘You say some _things_ , sometimes.’

 

'It's how I see it, Alex.  The animals and the counsellors are out there everyday, trying to fight back against the darkness, trying to bring love and light and hope into these kids lives.  They're all heroes to me.'

 

Alex blows out her cheeks, shakes her head in wonder at her sister and Kara gives her a tiny shrug in response, as if to say- _It Is So._

 

Kara picks up her juice again and gives Alex's arm a squeeze.    

 

' _S_ _ometimes_ I’d drop by,’ she continues, ‘and Comet would _not_ be there- but one of the counsellors would be - and- I got to like stopping by to see him too.’

 

‘Ah,’ says Alex, giving her eyes a final wipe.  ‘And _that_ was Bill.’

 

This was all, slowly, starting to make sense.

 

‘Exactly,’ says Kara.  

 

‘Tell me about him.'

 

‘Well- he’s smart and thoughtful and- respectful and _handsome_ ,’ Kara gives a little sigh, ‘and he’s a really, _really_ good listener.’

 

Alex nods encouragingly.

 

‘He used to make me coffee on his little stove in the tack room and we’d chat on whilst he was working with the horses.  At first we talked about the camp, and the horses, then a _lot_ about CATCO and Miss Grant, and how I ended up working as a journalist.  He was- is- so interested in my work as a journalist.  I think he’s read every word I’ve ever written.’

 

‘Wow,’ says Alex, feeling a pang of guilt.  ‘That’s keen.’

 

Kara grins.  ‘I thought it was adorable, Alex.’

 

‘Keen- _and_ adorable, then,’ says Alex.

 

‘The months went by and he carried on reading my articles and we started to talk more about life outside work.  He told me about jobs he’d worked in the past, and the travelling he’d done, and about when he’d decided to retrain as a counsellor.  I told him, as much as I could, about mom and dad and losing my home and coming to live with you when I was a teenager.   Talking with him about that-’ Kara looks down for a few seconds, ‘helped me a lot, actually-’

 

‘But you never told him about Supergirl, and Bill never mentioned Comet?’

 

Kara shakes her head.   

 

‘No.  But I thought about it, all the time- and so did he.  We both held back because we'd got a good friendship going.  It's a pretty big thing to drop.'

 

'Hi, I'm Supergirl, hi, I'm sometimes a horse called Comet.'  Alex nods.  'I can see that.'

 

Kara sighs.

 

'Looking back, we did skirt around things.  We had _long_ conversations about professional ethics, and disclosure of sources, and using off-the-record information: Supergirl and Comet get to know a _lot_ of stuff- but- there was still this huge secret we were both keeping about our true selves- and that was hard for both of us to bear.'

 

Alex nods and understands a little more.

  

‘But, supersleuth, it never occurred to you, that you wouldn't see Comet and Bill in the same place at the same time?’

 

Kara grins and scratches the back of her head.  ‘I know, Alex, I _know_.  You would think, wouldn't you, that I'd notice something like that?’

 

‘I guess there’s a little more difference than just a pair of glasses between Bill and Comet, Kara,’ says Alex, with a grin in return.  ‘I’d say that’s reasonable.  How’d you find out, in the end?’

 

Kara gives a wry smile.  ‘ _I_ made an uncharacteristic slip up.’

 

‘Kara Danvers making an uncharacteristic slip up?  I’m all ears.’

 

Kara plumps up her cushion a little.

 

‘One day J’onn and I stopped by Eliza’s on our way back from some DEO business and I left them chatting on in the house, like they usually do, and-’

 

‘Wait!’ says Alex, holding up her hand.  ‘Like they usually do?  What?’

 

‘Oh,’ says Kara, waving her hand at Alex, ‘he’s always popping up to Midvale to pick her brains about something or other.  He likes her baking too.’

 

Alex realises that she’s going to have to rethink more than a few assumptions she’s made about her life.

 

‘I’m just having a fly around and J’onn finally joins me and as we’re near to the camp I suggest swinging by- so we land in the paddock at the back of the stables and by chance Comet is there.’

 

‘Supergirl and green friend arrive...’ says Alex, starting to screw up her face.

 

‘...and I walk behind a tree and superspeed change into my Kara clothes.’

 

‘Oh Kara,’ says Alex, completely screwing her face up.

 

‘Comet sees me emerge from behind the tree, and the look on his face is basically _Yikes_!  J’onn is looking at Comet in confusion, and then J’onn starts to laugh.  Like, the biggest laugh I’ve ever heard.’

 

‘Because…?’

 

‘Because Comet is telepathic - and J’onn connected with him without even thinking about it, and - between his laughs and his gasps for air - he manages to break the news to me about Comet _and_ Bill.’

 

Alex’s eyes grow wide again.

 

‘I _know_ , right,’ says Kara.  ‘I could not _believe_ it!  My most favourite horse and one of my most favourite people are one and the same.’

 

‘I have to give J’onn credit.  That man has never breathed a word of any of this, to me,’ says Alex.  

 

‘Why would he,’ says Kara, not unreasonably.  ‘After all, he knew about how you felt about Maggie before you’d even worked out what you felt about her.  And he never said a word to you, let alone anyone else.’

 

Alex concedes that point.  ‘Not his place to tell,’ she says, with a little nod, and wondering if she could love her space Dad more than right at this moment.  ‘So- you and J’onn and Comet meeting up- this was recently?’ says Alex.

 

‘A couple of months ago.’  Kara rolls her eyes.  ‘And then- Comet stayed as Comet for _weeks_ .  He’s good company and I was forever stopping by with a sugar lump for him, but I was _bursting_ with questions.’

 

‘Oh _Kara_ ,’ says Alex, holding a hand over her mouth and laughing.

 

‘Bill finally turned up and we had a lot to say to each other-'

 

'I bet,' says Alex, still laughing.

 

'But between CATCO and the DEO and Comet’s and Bill’s schedules we really struggled to see much of each other.  And sometimes Bill is only around for short periods of time.  We’ve, uh, had a couple of close calls if we’ve gone out to get ice cream.’

 

Kara laughs at the memory and Alex joins in with a chuckle.

 

‘Yeah,’ says Kara, warming to her theme.  ‘Bill stayed over a couple of times, when we were just friends, and slept on the couch.  One night he changed back into Comet and nearly crashed into the apartment below.’

 

‘Oh boy,’ says Alex, wincing.  

 

‘ _That_ took a lot of explaining _and_ a gourmet hamper delivery to resolve.’

 

‘Hence the new bed,’ says Alex.  ‘Of _course_.’

 

Kara shakes her head at the memory.

 

‘I just ordered the biggest one I could find.  So Comet _or_ Bill can wriggle around as much as they like, and _I_ take the couch and get a good night’s sleep.  And J’onn got Winn to do some fancy stuff on the DEO computers with star charts and trajectory projections and things to help sync up our schedules so at least I know whether to buy bran or burgers for dinner.’  

 

‘I’d like to take a look at those,’ says Alex, quickly.  ‘The data sets and methodology sound  _really_ interesting.’

 

Kara rolls her eyes and mutters ‘of _course_ you would,’ under her breath.

 

‘And so - you’re dating,’ says Alex, throwing a smile at her sister.

 

‘Only a couple of weeks so early days and both very much keeping it on the down low,’ says Kara, ‘but yes, we are, and I’m really happy.  And I’m not sure who’s more surprised about it between me or Bill.’

 

‘Well, _I’m_ happy for you, Kara.  You had me wondering, for a while.  But- it’s a wonderful story.’  

 

A thought occurs to Alex.  

 

‘Has Mom met Comet, or Bill?’  Alex remembers, now, her mom saying something about running a few sessions at the camp for the counsellors - basic classes on astronomy and the night sky.

 

‘Welllll,’ Kara begins.  ‘She’s met Comet.  But she’s not met Bill.  Yet.  That’s next.  For Eliza, and for you two.  When the stars align.’

 

Kara slides off the sofa, heads to the fridge.  

 

‘You want anything to eat?  I have lots.  There's lots of lasagne.  I'm not sure whether it will be Comet or Bill for dinner so I bought plenty.’

 

‘I’m fine,’ says Alex.  Kara turns with a covered tray. Her mouth is already full.  ‘Couldn’t resist these pierogi earlier,’ she mumbles.  ‘You sure?’

 

Alex shakes her head and grins.  ‘‘I’m taking Maggie out on a date tonight, so, no, thank you.’  Her and Maggie have been seeing each other for _months_ now and she still has to pinch herself when she remembers that she can ask her to wear something nice and take her out.

 

‘You’re so cute,’ says Kara, picking up another dumpling from the tray.  ‘Where are you going?’

 

Alex sits a little straighter, can’t help but feel proud of herself for the plans she’s made.    

 

‘A little French place,’ she says, trying to play it cool.  ‘Not the one we usually go to.  I asked around at work and it came _highly_ recommended.’

 

‘Very romantic,’ says Kara.

 

‘That’s the idea,’ says Alex.  ‘She’s had a tough week and I just wanted to spoil her.’

 

‘Maybe me and Bill could swing round tomorrow, so you and Maggie can meet him.  I’ll check my charts.’

 

Alex twists her mouth into a smile.  ‘Just not too early, hey.  And, Kara, remember: the knocking and waiting thing at the door is good.’

 

Kara shudders, a pierogi halfway to her mouth.

 

‘Alex- after last Sunday morning, that lesson is well and truly learned.’

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Alex opens the apartment door and flicks on the lights with a heavy sigh.

‘I am so, so sorry, Maggie.  I-  I- don’t know what to say.’

‘It’s okay, Alex, I’ll live.’

Maggie attempts a smile but none is returned.  Alex puts her keys down on the counter top.

‘But I made you get all dressed up, and _everything_.’

‘Twice, as well.’  Maggie’s eyes are glittering and Alex doesn’t know where to look.  It’s true.  Maggie put _that_ black dress on and Alex took it straight back off again.

‘I’ll take you somewhere nice next week.  I promise. I’ll get Kara to go through Cat Grant’s old diary and call in some favours…’

Maggie kicks off her heels.

‘Honestly, Danvers.  It’s no big deal’

Alex slumps over the counter.  ‘I took you out for a romantic meal.  I wanted it to be special, because- I...’

At this point Alex is mostly talking to herself.

Maggie comes around the kitchen island holding two old fashioned glasses and pulls the best bottle of scotch she can find down from the shelf.

‘I mean,’ continues Alex, ‘I told her I wanted to take you out for an authentic French meal and she comes up with that…’

Maggie puts the glasses down on the island and stands close, rubbing a circle against Alex’s back with her free hand.  It feels good, but Alex feels too bad to enjoy it.

‘Who’s she…?’

‘Vasquez…’  Alex sighs.  ‘I’m so sorry.’

Maggie explodes with laughter.  Alex rears back.  

Maggie is _snorting_ in her face.

‘You asked Susan Vasquez where to go for a meal and you’re surprised we ended up eating fondue?’

Alex nods, sadly.  

‘Pur-leeze, Danvers.  Seriously?  Vasquez literally has cheese oozing out of her pores.  Competitive cheese eating is her _hobby_.  Where else did you think she was going to suggest?’

Maggie snorts again and starts to take the cap off the bottle of whisky.

Alex mentally kicks herself.  They’d had their morning together, and everything had worked out so well with Kara and meeting Comet, and Maggie had taken her breath away before they’d gone out…

Tonight wasn’t supposed to end up like this.  Tonight was supposed to be _special_.

Alex watches Maggie pour out two generous measures and tries - and fails - to stop another heavy sigh from escaping.  She thinks back to the thrills she’d felt during the cab ride over to the restaurant: Maggie being next to her in _that_ dress, Maggie planting soft kisses on the back of her hand, Maggie smiling _that_ smile at her - the one she’s convinced - by now - that Maggie saves _just for her_.  Most of all, Alex remembers the buzz of excitement as she projected ahead to the moment - in her mind, this was over coffee and _petit fours_ , with the maître d’ discreetly overseeing proceedings from a distance, the gentle ebb and flow of conversation from the other diners providing a pleasant background hum - when she’d reach across the table, take Maggie’s hands into her own and open up a little more about her feelings...

...but instead, she’d barely given her name to confirm the reservation - which Vasquez had taken care of - before they’d been crammed into a tiny booth, half on top of each other, and the food had started to arrive - baskets of bread and plate after plate of crudités and a _pail_ sized pot of cheese sauce.  Maggie’s eyes had grown wider and wider each time the server deposited fresh items at their table, and so had Alex’s, at first, until she realised - somewhere around the second head of cauliflower being placed on the table - that both her and Maggie were instead _squinting_ at each other in the dim light, their eyes swimming from the fumes of their fondue and the neighbouring booth’s raclette and the clouds of acrid smoke billowing across from the hotplate on the large table in the middle of the tiny restaurant where the National City Fishing Club were marking their yearly get together by bonding over charred vegetables and singing, shouting and banging the table top with their skewers...  

Alex swallows a large gulp of scotch and cringes as more of the evening seeps back in.  

...and there she’d sat, DEO Agent Alex Danvers, J’onn’s second in command, a woman who can fool the most sophisticated lie detecting equipment on (and off) the market, get by in Kryptonian, and who had showed courage enough to pilot a pod into space to rescue _Supergirl_ \- there she’d sat, sat nearly on the lap of the person who’d opened up her world: the only person she’d ever fallen in love with, and who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, and she’d not been able to find it in herself to even _begin_ to talk.  Partly out of choice, reflects Alex, now, because she didn’t want Maggie or herself to ever have to refer to this night again - and how could they not if she indeed put voice to her feelings - but mostly out of necessity - because no quantity of dry white wine could remove the clag from the quart of cheese sauce which she had felt duty bound to consume, but which had also had the most unfortunate effect of practically sticking her tongue to the roof of her mouth.

A night memorable for all the _wrong_ reasons.

‘I had it all planned,’ she says, remembering, cringing again.  ‘And then it all went wrong and I’m sorry.’

Maggie leans into her.

‘It was a lovely gesture, Alex.  Nothing to be sorry about.’

Alex starts to speak again and Maggie silences her with a kiss.

‘I could see how much it meant to you that we had a good time.’

Maggie kisses her again then bobs her nose against Alex’s.

‘And going on a date which surprises us both so very much is so very, very you.’

Maggie flashes her special smile again.

‘It is?’ says Alex, warily.

Maggie tilts her head to one side, narrows her eyes a little.

‘Aside from me nearly going to a Barenaked Ladies concert with a White Martian, how about the trip to the boating lake near your mom’s, just after we started dating.’

Alex puts her hand over her face and sinks back down onto the island.

‘I wasn’t to know it had been drained only the day before due to a breach…’

‘I know,’ says Maggie, sympathetically.  ‘But, you know what - we’d have never walked through the forest and found that look-out if the lake had actually still been there.  I’ve some special memories of that day.’

Alex takes her hand away from her face and looks at Maggie, and Maggie’s all smiles and dimples, and Alex nods and says ‘yeah,’ quietly.  That day had turned out, after the shock had worn off, to be a pretty perfect day of firsts: the first day they’d managed to get out of the City together, and they’d savored the clean air and the colors and the peacefulness, the first time they’d taken the Ducati rather than the car, and Alex had the wholly new experience of seeing Maggie for the first time in her bike leathers, the first time Maggie had ridden pillion with her, pressed close to her back, arms wrapped tight around her ribs, thighs gripping against her own.  

Alex had had _thoughts_ the entire day.  Some of those had been firsts, too.

‘Then,’ continues Maggie, shaking Alex back from her memories, ‘you made all those plans to get us over into the next State to go to that Gallery, to see my favourite artist’s new exhibition...’

Alex looks over Maggie’s shoulder, to the painting she’d tried so hard to place just right in the room.  The painting they’d both loved at first sight.  That painting had been their first, proper, joint purchase and Maggie had insisted it worked best in Alex’s apartment, not hers.  Buying it together had been a tacit statement that they were not just casually dating - that Alex’s apartment was starting to become _their_ home.  The thought of that gave Alex a buzz every time she looked at the artwork.

‘...and of course,’ says Alex, starting to feel a little better, ‘after we’d both wangled the time off work and got there the exhibition had been closed because of a burst pipe…’

Maggie’s grin gets wider.  ‘Too much water, that time.’

'Nice hotel room, though,' says Alex, looking sheepishly down at the floor.

Maggie bites her lip in response. 'When we arrived it was. _Bedwrecker_.'

Maggie's teasing makes Alex brighten and after a couple more seconds of looking everywhere in the apartment apart from at Maggie she thinks of one herself.  

‘How about when we decided to go camping on the spur of the moment to do some star-gazing and then it clouded over just when it got dark…?’  

Alex knows it wasn’t exactly spur of the moment - getting clearance from the DEO to camp out near the desert facility had taken a few calls, and although she’d affected a casual air about them hopping onto a helicopter which just happened to be going their way - well - that had used up _quite_ a lot of favours.

‘The weather didn’t matter, did it?  And it was my turn to make a rookie mistake - fancy me forgetting my sleeping bag and having to climb in with you,’ says Maggie, innocently.

It drives Alex wild that she is an expert in reading body language, especially facial micro-expressions and she _still_ doesn’t know if Maggie forgot her sleeping bag on purpose.

‘Silver linings, and all that,’ says Alex, pulling a goofy face and not quite knowing where this is all going but feeling the warmth of Maggie against her and hoping that the night isn’t completely ruined and she’s able to make it up to her, somehow.

‘I think we make a pretty good team, Danvers,’ says Maggie.  ‘Even if some of our dates lurch from one calamity to another.’

Alex thinks that maybe Maggie, right at this moment, is the kindest person she’s ever met.  

‘And then you taking me out on a date tonight.  Going to all that trouble,’  Maggie wraps her arm around Alex’s waist.  ‘Well- I felt very special.’

‘You did?’ says Alex.

Maggie nods, and there’s the same softness in her eyes Alex saw that morning, when Maggie held her hands and talked about when they’d first met.

‘Not everything goes to plan, Alex, but no matter.  We always manage to make things work out...’  

Alex puts down her glass and slides her arms around Maggie’s waist.  She makes the decision, right then, to tell Maggie what she couldn’t in the restaurant.  But before she can track back and remember the opening words she’d thought so carefully about, Maggie’s speaking again.

‘...and that’s what I like so much about you Alex, because you might think we’re going from one disastrous date to another, and, well- that might be the case- but I’m having so much fun amongst the carnage and we’re getting to know each other better, so it really doesn’t matter...’

Alex squeezes her to let her know she agrees, and wonders when the right moment will be to say what she wants to say - wonders whether it will be later, in bed - but Maggie continues to speak.

‘...and, you might be worrying about the big things not going to plan, but you touch my life a hundred times a day with your thoughtfulness and kindness and that means the world to me and I don’t tell you often enough…’

Alex dips her head.  She’s not used to being told these sorts of things by anyone.  Truth is, she can’t help herself - she’s always thinking of ways to help take the pressure off Maggie, help soothe her at night, help her to relax.  She can’t ever see herself wanting to stop.

‘...and Alex, when you pick me up at the end of a long day, I’m so happy that you’re the girl I get to come home with.  Because,’ Maggie flicks her eyes around the apartment and back to Alex’s, ‘this is something I’ve longed for, all my life...’.  

Maggie is looking at her like Alex is the most incredible thing she’s ever seen.

Alex can feel her bottom lip start to wobble and she doesn’t really care.

‘Alex,’ says Maggie, softly, ‘with you, it’s like, after years and years of drifting around I feel like I’ve finally, _finally_ , come home.  ’

‘I’m your home?’ says Alex, her voice cracking.  Maggie nods a couple of times, eyes sparkling.  

Alex really doesn’t know what to say to that, so kisses her, tenderly, and stays close, lets their foreheads rest together for a moment.  

‘And, so,’ says Maggie, leaning back a little, and Alex loosens the hold on her waist, because she knows that once Maggie gets it in her head to say something, she has to get it _all_ out.  ‘So, what I’m trying to say is - there’s really no one I’d rather be with, and no one I’d rather spend my time with.  Because, Alex, you let me into your heart, and- you opened up mine.  And with all of that,’ says Maggie, with a hitch in her breath, her smile in her eyes, ‘and with everything I feel, when I’m with you, or not, Alex Danvers, all of that, is why I love you, so very, very much.’

Alex doesn’t know whether to implode or explode.

She reaches up for a stray strand of Maggie’s hair, pushes it back from her face, fixes them both in the moment.  Maggie searches her face, all nerves and hope.   

Alex takes a deep breath and decides that simultaneously exploding and imploding is the only way to go.  

‘I love you, too, Maggie,’ she says, marvelling at how it sounds, how it feels to finally _say_ it out loud, seeing Maggie _melt_ when she hears the words.

She tries it again:  ‘I love you, with _all_ of my heart.’

//

Kara’s curled up on the couch, Comet lying on the floor next to her, and she moves her legs so Streaky can jump up onto the cushions.  She waits until he stops shifting and sighing and picks her copy of CATCO magazine back up, holding it with one hand, stroking Comet’s silvery forelock with the other.  

‘The photo editors picked a great couple of images to go with my article,’ says Kara, pleased.  ‘Makes all the difference.  I can see why James seemed relaxed when he was checking over the proofs.’  

She looks down to Comet.  ‘Talk to me about it tomorrow?'

Comet wiggles his ears in agreement.

'I’m _so_ glad you’ve been able to make it back over tonight.’

She scratches him just underneath his chin, and Comet gives a tiny, quiet, contented whinny.

‘My heart is just so full at the moment,’ says Kara, leaning down to place a kiss on his cheek.  ‘I’m so _happy_.’  

Comet gives another contented whinny in response.

‘You know, earlier, after Alex left and I was plowing through my DEO and CATCO emails, I took a break and found myself looking at old photos, from when I first arrived on Earth.’

Kara puts the magazine down on the floor, twists onto her side so she’s facing Comet.

‘Rao, my whole world had ended, I’d lost everyone I’d ever loved, and I was so scared. I was just so _different_ from everyone, so lonely and alone, and-’ Kara bites her lip, ‘even my cousin - the person I was sent here to protect - didn’t want or need me.  I had gone from being the girl who had everything to having nothing but pain.'  She shakes her head at the memory.  'I really thought my heart would never mend.’

Comet pushes himself up so that his head is raised off the floor.  He rubs his muzzle against Kara’s arm to comfort her.  

‘You’re a fellow traveller from across the stars, just like me, so I know you understand what it feels like to only have memories of places and people you’ll never see again-’ Comet rubs his muzzle against the back of Kara’s hand, at this and Kara’s quiet and thoughtful for a few moments.  ‘Comet, I’ll never forget Krypton, or my family, and a part of me will always wonder about the life I might have had there, but I have so many blessings to count, now - my career at CATCO, being Supergirl, having you and Alex, and Eliza and J’onn, and Jeremiah - wherever he is, Rao keep him safe - and Maggie and Winn and James - _and_ Miss Grant and Snapper.’

Streaky stirs at the bottom of the couch.

‘And _you_ , Streaky, of course,’ says Kara, with a gulp.  ‘You’re at the very top of my list.’

Streaky stretches and settles back down.

‘I made peace with myself, this afternoon. I let myself accept that if home really is where the heart is, my heart is _here_ , with my Earth family and all my friends - and at CATCO, and the DEO.  And I wished I could send a message back to my younger self - to tell her to always have hope, that things _will_ change for the better, to look forward to a time when she had enough in her life, again.’

Comet holds his head high and straight.  

He waits.

‘I think,’ says Kara, reaching over to stroke the length of his nose, ‘I think, looking at the life I lead now, my younger self would say she had _more_ than enough.’

Comet’s ears fold back against his head.

‘But _I_ don’t.  Maybe I’ve spent too much time being on the receiving end of inspirational learning moments from Miss Grant, but I’m _never_ going to set limits for myself.'

Kara reaches over to pat Streaky on the head and then leans down to readjust one of Comet's slippers.

'I'm _always_ going to be able to find space in my heart for more.’

 

//

 

By the time they get into bed Alex has told Maggie she loves her seventeen times.  And Maggie- Maggie keeps soaking it up and firing it back and really Alex doesn’t think either of them are going to get tired of it any time soon.  

Alex’s favourite _I love you_ , so far, has been in the shower, with Maggie’s deft hands working their magic, and the words spilling out of her, over the hiss of the water.  She’s felt those words, before, as she’s tipped over the edge, but nothing, yet, has felt as good as feeling them, _and_ saying them.  

She’s been saving one up for when they’re drifting off to sleep.  So it’s the last thing Maggie hears before morning.

Except- Alex pulls the sheet up over their shoulders.  It’s late, and they should be sleeping, but she just can’t let go of the day.  Maggie seems to be in a similar situation too.

‘Ever get the feeling that something is staring you in the face but you just can’t see it?’ murmurs Maggie into Alex’s collar bone.  Alex is lying on her back, has her arm around Maggie, is enjoying tangling her fingers in Maggie’s long hair.  Maggie shifts a little in the bed, slides her leg up and over Alex, wraps her arm around Alex’s ribcage.  

‘Something in one of the case files?’ says Alex.  Leaving Maggie with her paperwork and heading off to Kara’s feels like something she did an eternity ago.

Maggie’s hair tickles against her when she shakes her head a little.  ‘No.  I don’t think so.  It’s like I’m back on the beat and my spider senses are tingling...’

‘The answer might come to you in a dream,’ offers Alex, softly.  'Had some breakthroughs in my PhD research like that.'

Maggie smiles against her and she hears the whispered words: 'Never stop, Danvers.'

Alex reaches for Maggie’s hand and laces their fingers together and Maggie scooches just a little closer and Alex’s body continues to thrum.  Alex wants her- there’s no doubt about that: Alex always wants Maggie, but, not now.  Not when they’re both distracted.  Instead, Alex takes her pleasure from how they gradually entwine themselves around each other while unwinding each other's minds. It's a different kind of intimacy - one she's never experienced before - and they're both still slowly learning how to navigate it, and themselves, alone and together. 

‘What’s on _your_ mind, pretty lady?’ says Maggie, and Alex feels Maggie smile again.  Alex beams into the darkness.  She’s still really glad that they managed to talk everything through after Valentine’s Day. That's when things between them started to become _real_.  She pulls Maggie a little closer at the memory, ghosts a kiss on the top of her head.  

‘It’s Kara, of course,’ says Alex.  

Another smile.  ‘Anything in particular bothering you?’    

 This is Maggie’s polite way of saying: ‘you’ve got to give me more than that, Danvers.’

 Alex marshalls her thoughts.

 ‘Meeting Comet, I guess,’ she says, hesitating, then adding- ‘and going round to meet Bill tomorrow.  It’s a lot to take in.’

 ‘This Comet, uh, Bill dude, though, sounds pretty cool, though,’ says Maggie, stifling a yawn.  ‘Working as a volunteer horse at the camp when he’s got, uh, equine form, and a counsellor for the kids when he’s got human form.  That suits Kara, through and through.’

 ‘It _does_ ,’ says Alex, ‘but…’

‘But what?’

‘It’s nothing,’ says Alex, feeling embarrassed.

‘It’s clearly something,’ says Maggie.  ‘Don’t make me tickle it out of you.’

Just for a split second Alex considers _not_ telling her.  But it’s late, and this is much more serious than their usual silly stand offs.

‘Okay, well, I don’t want to sound like I think he’s not good enough for her, and you know I would never judge, but….he has had an- uh, unorthodox career history and that worries me.’

It really sounds lame, once she’s said it.  But- it’s out there, now.

‘Alex…’ There’s a hint of a warning tone in Maggie’s voice.

‘I know, I know, I know,’ says Alex, ‘It’s just...Maggie...it’s just, well, Bill, you see.  Kara told me today that he used to work as a trick-rider, on the rodeos and…. _ooooumph_.’

‘Wait, _what_?’ says Maggie, using the hand on Alex’s ribcage to lever herself up and over, squashing all the breath out of her.  Maggie turns the side light on and spins herself back to face Alex.

‘Did you ever tell me his last name?’  

Alex thinks this is the most astonished she’s ever seen Maggie.

‘It's Starr,’ wheezes Alex, trying to get air back into her lungs.  ‘Yes, Starr.’  

Maggie shakes her head in response.  ‘Bronco Bill Starr…’  She lets out a low whistle.  ‘Well I’ll be damned.  I _knew_ there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on about all this...’

 _‘Bronco_?’ splutters Alex.  ‘You’ve heard of him?’

‘Bronco Bill Starr?  That guy- Alex- that guy is my _hero_ ,’ says Maggie, her eyes shining with tears.  

‘He _is_?’

‘He gave me hope when I had nothing left in my life.’

Alex reaches up, uses her thumb to wipe Maggie's cheek.  ‘Kara’s Bill? But- _how_?’

Alex watches as Maggie leans back to retrieve the silver horseshoe trinket from the bedside table. When Maggie had first started to stay over she'd observed her routine with interest - she touched the horseshoe first thing in the morning, last thing at night, kept it fixed close to her NCPD badge when she was at work - and Alex thought it had just been the usual superstitious stuff that cops did. Stuff scientists weren't really supposed to believe in.

So when Alex had asked one night, curled up in bed, which one thing Maggie would return to a burning building to retrieve, expecting to tease her about how she'd choose between her leather jackets or bonsai trees, she'd only been mildly surprised when Maggie had said, without hesitation: 'My horseshoe'. Except- Maggie had been quiet, then, and Alex had waited, stroking her back with light fingertips, until Maggie had said: 'It's not for luck. It's for _fortitude_ ', and then snuffled into the crook of her neck. Alex had felt her skin grow damp with Maggie's tears, but Maggie had not volunteered any further information and Alex hadn't known what to ask.

Maggie holds up the horseshoe between her index finger and thumb and lets out a long breath.

‘Alex,’ she says, and her tone is serious.  ‘Bill gave me this when I was fourteen. And no word of a lie- _that_ guy is the only reason why I’m here with you, right now.’

 _Fortitude_ , thinks Alex, as she reaches for Maggie's hand. _Fortitude_

  



End file.
